It was only a matter of time before Duke Nicholson (27) would end up pursuing acting carrying that last name and being the (grand) grandson of Jack Nicholson (89), one of the three male actors who have won the most Oscars alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Walter Brennan with three statuettes.
The young man will premiere on September 25 in the United States The Deputy, a police thriller that marks his first film as a lead actor alongside William H. Macy and Stephen Dorff. In just seven years since his first appearance on the big screen in Us (2019), he is gradually becoming a sure bet in a Hollywood whose identity crisis is becoming deeper.
It is noteworthy that Duke wanted to remain unnoticed in the industry to earn the favor of directors and producers through his own efforts and chose to use his maternal surname; he is the son of Jennifer Nicholson (63), an actress and designer with her own boutique. His father is former professional surfer Mark Norfleet. Before the marriage ended over two decades ago, they had another son, Sean Norfleet, who last summer attracted attention when he was arrested on a serious charge of violence against a woman.
It was assumed that Duke would enter show business: "My interest in movies was always there, but I didn't consider it a professional career until I was about 15 or 16 (...) At first, I wanted to direct; that was my initial idea," he admitted a few months ago in The Hollywood Reporter. The bug bit him in high school film class when he started acting in different projects, but what he was most proud of was his first short film as a director,The Happy Fisherman, which he didn't show to anyone.
Among his group of friends was Jack Kilmer, son of Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley, who introduced him to a music video director with whom he made The Dandy Warhols: Catcher in the Rye. This is how he caught the attention of the director of Us. Additionally, he also worked as a model for various brands, "something that didn't interest me" - he often repeats - and was on the cover of his friend Lana del Rey's seventh album.
Having a grandfather like Jack, considered one of the greatest actors in history, it may surprise many that there is hardly any talk of movies at home. "Our conversations are quite mundane, and we usually watch sports on TV like Los Angeles Lakers games," he has commented on several occasions. If you dig into the archives, you can see grandson and grandfather cheering on the team from the court when Duke was young.
He also mentions that at big celebrations like Thanksgiving, only a few people usually gather at the complex that the star of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) owns on Mulholland Drive (Los Angeles), which includes the former home of his friend Marlon Brando.
The star is not very keen on giving advice, "but one thing he has always emphasized is the importance of developing your own material: writing, creating projects with friends, participating in the process. He has always been more than an actor; he is also a writer and director," he explained in The Hollywood Reporter. As expected, Jack is also his main source of inspiration. The actor no longer attends events due to his advanced age.
Unlike many other young people with financial power and important connections in high society, Duke is a man of simple tastes who loves watching classic movies several nights a week, going to the cinema, surfing occasionally, and spending time with his girlfriend of four years, the fashion entrepreneur and influencer Devon Lee Carlson, with whom he got engaged at the end of June this year.